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Collars?

Hi,

I am looking to get a new collar for my pyr. It needs to be a sturdy collar (won't slip off or break) as he does pull when I take him out. His old collar is just getting worn out. Also, he needs anything but nylon (nylon gives him a rash).
Any suggestions?

I only get Missy's collars from one place and one place only. Collar Mania they are custom made and are as sturdy as they come for a non-leather collar. Missy is 130 lbs and her neck is about 26" so pet store collars don't cut it with her. http://www.collarmania.com/

Okay the bitch collar is a fabric collar it has nylon in between two pieces of fabric so it never touches her. Nylon bleeds and usually stains her mane. The one that she is rolling in the grass with is vinyl collar with satin on the inside, the one that says Missy is also vinyl both are furniture type materials so they are thicker and both are lined with satin. The black one isn't one of Missy's it's just a good example of a laminated fabric and both sides of it are done in the laminate fabric. Now Missy has a laminate collar and I let the nylon line that one and I can honestly say that it's the only nylon that has never bled ever in my 3 years of owning it and getting it wet. It's her we are going swimming collar cause it wipes clean really easily. The hardware on all of them is heavy duty and they are made to take a beating. As you can tell in her vinyl collar you can even embroider the name on them.

So many nice collars out there, and I've been a fan of leather collars for years. With our fast growing Pyr, I went with a relatively inexpensive, adjustable nylon collar, worked ok. Once we got into puppy classes I discovered the joys of front attachment harnesses like this one:

Our Kali immediately started to pull much less on walks, and I didn't worry so much about the pressure on the neck area. The gasping, coughing, when pulling was always a concern. We leave a regular collar on, but also put on the harness just when walking. Walks are much more enjoyable now. These are large dogs, anything to help control pulling, and is safe, great to me. Unfortunately, most of the harnesses seem to have nylon straps. Not sure what to say other than maybe some fabric sleeves can be found or made to cover the straps? Could something else besides the nylon composition be causing the rash? Perhaps texture, rather than chemical?

Hi rx4bills,
Thanks for the input! A few years ago I did have a harness like that and I did like it. I'm not sure why I didn't buy another one (he grew out of his last one). I might try that again!
I'm not sure about the reaction. Once we switched to plastic collars, the reaction never came back. Before we switched, however, it was really serious. His neck would turn red and bleed and when I noticed it I bought him a new collar right away. I don't think he would have trouble with the harness, however, because I would only use it for walks (whereas the collar is a 24/7 thing).
Thanks again!

That collar maker also makes harnesses if you choose to go down that road. I personally don't care for harnesses on large dogs cause they can use their body weight and pull you more if they so desire. In my line of work I get to walk and see dogs in all sorts of collars, harnesses, head halters, choke chains, prong collars you name it. I have tried them all with Missy when she was a puppy too. Best thing for her and I was a prong for 5 minutes...she learned mighty quick not to pull after that we used martingales only.